Henry Asks Why
by reginamillz
Summary: Henry asks his mother why she adopted him. One shot.


Henry couldn't take it anymore. He had to ask. He figured the reason would be simple but then again his mother wasn't a simple person. He had to ask at the right time.

After dinner.

That would be perfect.

So Henry waited for his day with his mother.

After they finished their steak in comfortable silence he knew it was time.

It's now or never he thought.

"Hey mom," he began,

Regina quirked an eyebrow in surprise, they hadn't done much talking all night. "Yes Henry?"

"Can I ask you something?" he bit his bottom lip nervously and looked down.

She became nervous, by the way he was avoiding her gaze she could tell it was important "of course, you know you can ask me anything." she smiled encouragingly.

Henry took a deep breath before saying "Why'd you adopt me?"

Regina blinked. This was certainly unexpected. She knew he would ask someday but she never thought it would be so soon.

Henry watched her as she closed her eyes trying to think of the best way to tell him. He observed as she clenched and unclenched her fists. She was nervous. He wondered what about.

Regina opened her eyes slowly and smiled sadly at her son. "Henry, your adoption has a tragic back story behind it. Are you sure you want to hear this?"

Henry nodded "I can handle it mom, don't worry."

Regina smiled "you're so brave, alright I suppose I'll begin."

Henry sat across the table, patiently waiting for her to start her tale.

Regina began. "When I was about eighteen years old I was in love with a man named Daniel. He was the love of my life, everything he did brought me joy. However, we could never be together because he worked for my family as the stable boy." Regina paused to look at her son who was nodding along with her story.

"I loved Daniel more than life itself and one day we felt the need to pronounce our love to one another-"

"What do you mean pronounce?" Henry looked puzzled.

Regina struggled in explaining "Well, uh . . . You know how some people kiss or hug to show their affection?"

Henry nodded.

"Daniel and I took it a step further and we engaged in . . ." Regina trailed off hoping he understood.

Henry's eyes lit up" Oh! Like what Grams and Gramps did after Grams and Emma came back through the portal?"

Regina's eyes widened in horror but she nodded "yes exactly."

Henry smiled "ok, so then what happened?"

Regina continued "About a week later I snuck off to meet Daniel when a girl on a runaway horse flew by. Needless to say I went after her and I saved her life."

"And that girl was Grams right?" Henry asked.

Regina smiled and nodded before carrying on with her story "When Snow's father found out that I saved his daughter's life he immediately proposed. My power hungry mother accepted without me getting a say. I was crushed. I had no feelings for the king and I only wanted to be with Daniel. Later that day I ran into the stables and begged Daniel to runaway and marry me. He agreed to leaving later that night. As we kissed I heard a noise. When I turned around I saw Snow standing at the door of the stables watching us." Regina took a breath, telling someone, especially Henry was hard for her.

Henry gave her his signature cheeky smile, encouraging her to move ahead with the story.

Regina gave him a week smile before continuing. "Snow ran away angry, upset, and confused. Of course I ran after. I tried to get her to understand that I was in love with Daniel, that it was true love. She seemed to understand and she promised she wouldn't tell anyone." a tear ran down Regina's face "she lied." she spat bitterly.

Her eyes darkened angrily "she told my mother about Daniel and I. Later that night we were getting ready to run away when my mother stopped us. I begged her to understand. She seemed to for a moment but then she reached in to Daniel's chest and she -" Regina couldn't continue. She chocked on her words.

Henry got up from his seat and moved to hold his mother's hand. She squeezed his gratefully and let our a breath she didn't know she was holding.

"My mother, she reached into his ch-chest and ripped his heart out. She crushed it. She crushed his heart Henry!" Regina's eyes were blood shot. Her face was puffy and she rested her head on Henry's shoulder shaking with sobs.

Henry wrapped his arms around his mother trying to soothe as best as he could. "It's ok," he murmured. He grabbed a napkin from the table and handed it to her.

She blew her nose and claimed herself down. "A few days later I couldn't take it. I summoned Rumplestiltskin in order to help me get rid of my mother. On my wedding day I pushed her into a looking glass and sent her to Wonderland hopefully never seeing her again. Rumple offered to teach me magic and after much hesitation I accepted. The day of my wedding to the king we sealed our marriage. It felt nothing like it did with Daniel. There was no connection." Regina bit her bottom lip.

"Soon enough I discovered I was pregnant. Everyone was overjoyed, including me. I couldn't stop imagining what he or she would be like. At that point it didn't matter if it was Daniel's or the King's baby. It mattered that I would have a child, I would have happiness. The magical physician told me the baby would be a girl. I decided to name her Alaya. As soon as she was born I knew she was Daniel's," Regina wiped away a tear "and so did Leopold."

Henry's heart sunk into his stomach. He knew this story wouldn't end well.

"Leopold grew angry, he asked me who's child it was hoping he would soften knowing the story behind her birth. It didn't. He ordered for the baby to be killed. He only kept me around to be a mother for Snow. I held Alaya in my arms for about five minutes before he took her from me. I never saw her again."

By this time Regina sat on the chair with her knees to her chest. She could barely look at Henry. She took another napkin from the table and wiped away her tears.

"I lost one child Henry, after that I found I wasn't able to have any more children."

She looked over to Henry and saw he was crying. She wrapped an arm around him and brought his head to her chest.

"When I came to Storybrooke I knew it could be a fresh start. Even if I couldn't have one of my own I wanted a child," she kissed his forehead "and I got the best one."


End file.
